Gary Bettman

"We've sent a letter to Mr. Pound demanding to know on what he based his inflammatory statements. Everything he says is anecdotal. We deserve specifics, not hearsay and innuendoes. Dick Pound insulted our players with his accusations." Gary Bettman NHL commissioner, on the assertion by the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency that one-third of hockey players are using performance-enhancing drugs

Goodell made best better David Teel Daily Press Is this a trick question? Like who's buried in Grant's tomb? Sports' highest-paid commissioner should be the leader of the most successful league, the venture that draws the largest audience and rakes in the most cash. Bless their hearts, that is not Gary Bettman, Bud Selig or David Stern. Yes, the NFL's Roger Goodell inherited a gold mine from Paul Tagliabue and Pete Rozelle. And no, his six years in charge have not been seamless.

Goodell made best better David Teel Daily Press Is this a trick question? Like who's buried in Grant's tomb? Sports' highest-paid commissioner should be the leader of the most successful league, the venture that draws the largest audience and rakes in the most cash. Bless their hearts, that is not Gary Bettman, Bud Selig or David Stern. Yes, the NFL's Roger Goodell inherited a gold mine from Paul Tagliabue and Pete Rozelle. And no, his six years in charge have not been seamless.

The Lightning's top goal scorers, center Steven Stamkos and left wing Ryan Malone , are day to day after being injured in a 3-2 loss to the Oilers. Malone had an MRI on Thursday for an undisclosed lower body injury he suffered in Wednesday night's game. He might play when the Lightning begin a six-game road trip Friday in Colorado. He has 16 goals. Stamkos, who has a team-best 17 goals, may miss the Avalanche game. He had X-rays on an upper body injury. The Lightning have lost six of seven.

The Lightning's top goal scorers, center Steven Stamkos and left wing Ryan Malone , are day to day after being injured in a 3-2 loss to the Oilers. Malone had an MRI on Thursday for an undisclosed lower body injury he suffered in Wednesday night's game. He might play when the Lightning begin a six-game road trip Friday in Colorado. He has 16 goals. Stamkos, who has a team-best 17 goals, may miss the Avalanche game. He had X-rays on an upper body injury. The Lightning have lost six of seven.

As shots go, the ones provided by the Pittsburgh Penguins' Max Talbot and Petr Sykora on Monday night were shots in the arm for the NHL in general, even if they left the Detroit Red Wings smarting. Thanks to Talbot's game-tying goal with 35 seconds left in regulation and Sykora's winner from the right circle on a power play in the third overtime, the NHL will keep skating for at least one more game. The Penguins-Red Wings Stanley Cup Finals move back to Pittsburgh for Game 6 tonight with Detroit leading 3-2. The importance of extending the series is in no small way attached to TV ratings, a huge consideration in the pro sports universe.

Every day for weeks now, Washington Capitals players have been working out on their own at the Piney Orchard Ice Rink in Odenton.Yesterday, the word spread that league owners might lock them and their NHL brethren out of training camp, scheduled to open Sept. 4.League sources confirmed a report in the Toronto Sun yesterday that said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman had asked for and received an "unequivocal mandate" to lock out the players if movement has not been made in the collective bargaining negotiations.

NHL vice president Brian Burke, the man in charge of league discipline, likes physical hockey. He says watching the European-style game is about as exciting "as watching a dog take a nap."Burke said hockey "is a man's game," and NHL fans like physical hockey."I hear people say they like European hockey, the finesse," Burke said. "I've seen European games in which both teams had shot totals under 20. European hockey lacks the sustained intensity and pressure of the North American game. [In the NHL]

In the classic film "The Wizard of Oz," Dorothy (Judy Garland) discovers a befuddled chap posing as a wizard and indignantly tells the man (Frank Morgan) that he is a fraud. He musters up his dignity and insists that he is "a very good man but a very bad wizard."Baseball -- dear, anarchic baseball -- has a bit of a wizard problem itself. The owners have maintained one of their own, Bud Selig, as acting commissioner, forcing a rather nice man to appear as a rather ineffective commissioner.

Twenty-one games wipes the smirk off Dale Hunter's face.Twenty-one games sets a match to Gil Stein's pantywaist system of "discipline," which suspended players only for practices and non-game, non-travel days.Twenty-one games dares any other player in the NHL to find out whether this is the outer limit of Gary Bettman's justice, or whether it's just the starting point.Twenty-one games leaves a massive hole in the heart of the Washington Capitals. Even if you hate him, and he certainly gives you reason, you cannot overlook the fact that Hunter is a pivotal performer for his team.

As shots go, the ones provided by the Pittsburgh Penguins' Max Talbot and Petr Sykora on Monday night were shots in the arm for the NHL in general, even if they left the Detroit Red Wings smarting. Thanks to Talbot's game-tying goal with 35 seconds left in regulation and Sykora's winner from the right circle on a power play in the third overtime, the NHL will keep skating for at least one more game. The Penguins-Red Wings Stanley Cup Finals move back to Pittsburgh for Game 6 tonight with Detroit leading 3-2. The importance of extending the series is in no small way attached to TV ratings, a huge consideration in the pro sports universe.

"We've sent a letter to Mr. Pound demanding to know on what he based his inflammatory statements. Everything he says is anecdotal. We deserve specifics, not hearsay and innuendoes. Dick Pound insulted our players with his accusations." Gary Bettman NHL commissioner, on the assertion by the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency that one-third of hockey players are using performance-enhancing drugs

The president of the World Anti-Doping Agency said he suspects as many as a third of the NHL's 700 players may take some form of performance-enhancing substances. "I spoke with Gary [NHL commissioner Gary Bettman] and he said, `We don't have the problem in hockey,' " Dick Pound told the London Free Press yesterday in an interview for a story to be published today. "I told him he does. You wouldn't be far wrong if you said a third." Asked if he meant performing-enhancing drugs, the Montreal lawyer replied, "Yes."

Wayne Gretzky can't wait to play for the Canadian Olympic team in Nagano, Japan, next month. But it's not as if he's reached a lifelong goal."When we grew up, we were in a system that kind of dictated that you were going to play junior or college hockey," said Gretzky, who was born and raised in Brantford, Ontario, just outside Toronto. "Then your dream was to play in the NHL. Once you did that, it ruled the Olympics out. So I didn't grow up dreaming about it."While Gretzky concentrated on reaching the pros -- and did so by the time he was 17 -- other Canadian kids played for the national team and tried to dethrone the Soviet teams that dominated international hockey.

In the classic film "The Wizard of Oz," Dorothy (Judy Garland) discovers a befuddled chap posing as a wizard and indignantly tells the man (Frank Morgan) that he is a fraud. He musters up his dignity and insists that he is "a very good man but a very bad wizard."Baseball -- dear, anarchic baseball -- has a bit of a wizard problem itself. The owners have maintained one of their own, Bud Selig, as acting commissioner, forcing a rather nice man to appear as a rather ineffective commissioner.

Just when Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell reminds us professional sports is big business, along comes John McMullen, the owner of the New Jersey Devils.McMullen could have signed a sweetheart deal with Nashville, Tenn., during the off-season that would have meant sky boxes, club seating and a lucrative $20 million relocation bonus.Instead, he settled for less to keep his team in New Jersey through 2007. He'll get a break-even lease and $5.2 million in sale of club seats, arena improvements and other new sources of revenue.

The president of the World Anti-Doping Agency said he suspects as many as a third of the NHL's 700 players may take some form of performance-enhancing substances. "I spoke with Gary [NHL commissioner Gary Bettman] and he said, `We don't have the problem in hockey,' " Dick Pound told the London Free Press yesterday in an interview for a story to be published today. "I told him he does. You wouldn't be far wrong if you said a third." Asked if he meant performing-enhancing drugs, the Montreal lawyer replied, "Yes."

LANDOVER -- It took more than a week -- and several clarifications from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman -- but the Washington Capitals decided to match the San Jose Sharks' free-agent offer for left wing Kelly Miller yesterday.In a separate move, the Capitals signed 14-year veteran Keith Acton to a one-season contract.Miller, 30, will receive a $1 million signing bonus and salaries of $800,000 and $850,000 for the next two years. Miller will have the option of extending the contract for an additional two seasons at $500,000 per season.

Every day for weeks now, Washington Capitals players have been working out on their own at the Piney Orchard Ice Rink in Odenton.Yesterday, the word spread that league owners might lock them and their NHL brethren out of training camp, scheduled to open Sept. 4.League sources confirmed a report in the Toronto Sun yesterday that said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman had asked for and received an "unequivocal mandate" to lock out the players if movement has not been made in the collective bargaining negotiations.

NHL vice president Brian Burke, the man in charge of league discipline, likes physical hockey. He says watching the European-style game is about as exciting "as watching a dog take a nap."Burke said hockey "is a man's game," and NHL fans like physical hockey."I hear people say they like European hockey, the finesse," Burke said. "I've seen European games in which both teams had shot totals under 20. European hockey lacks the sustained intensity and pressure of the North American game. [In the NHL]